After years out of the limelight, Shania Twain is back with her fifth studio album. We caught up with the 52-year-old country star during a hectic week of promo.

Back in July 2003, she performed in London’s Hyde Park. I know because I was there, reporting on the gig for this very website.

If you’d have told either of us then it would take 14 years for her to sing there again, I doubt we would’ve believed you.

Back then Shania – no surname required – was riding the crest of a wave. She’d had hit after hit, recorded the best-selling country album of all time (1997’s Come On Over) and been the half-time act at the Super Bowl.

Not long afterwards, though, it began to go wrong. Her marriage to producer Robert “Mutt” Lange collapsed, and she developed debilitating vocal problems that forced her to temporarily give up recording and performing.

The comeback trail began in Las Vegas with a two-year residency at Caesars Palace that paved the way for a “final” tour in 2015.

Image copyrightGiampaolo SguraImage caption The singer has sold more than 90 million albums worldwide

Now, 20 years on from Come On Over, Shania is back – with a new husband, a new album (called Now) and a new voice.

“It is different,” she says of the celebrated purry twang that brought us tracks like You’re Still The One, That Don’t Impress Me Much and Man! I Feel Like A Woman.

“I’ve got smokier sounds I never had before, and I’ve got a lower register than I used to have before.”

The singer blames Lyme disease for her dysphonia, an ailment that causes the vocal cords to seize up when speaking or singing.

“It’ll never be solved,” she tells the BBC. “It’s a permanent problem.

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“But with a lot of physical and vocal therapy, I’ve got better at understanding my voice and better at managing it.”

Our interview takes place towards the end of a hectic week that also includes appearances on The One Show, Strictly Come Dancing and Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.